For some reason, I found myself smiling upon entering Shok’s blog. It could be that the “about” section in his sidebar is funny or that he earnestly discloses the purpose of his blog with a quote from the Big Kahuna, whatever the reason, I got a good feeling from this first impression.
The template is a standard blogspot template, blue-beige, nothing fancy, but easy on the eyes. His sidebar is crammed with add-ons, such as java script calendars, tic-tac-toe games, buttons, links to articles from several magazines, a calculator, etc. He has so many add-ons; it does get a little confusing.
Shok is a middle-aged man of the Christian faith (an ex-pastor), married with kids. His “about” section lists a series of his personal tastes, hobbies and other information, which on a blog, is always appreciated. The way Shok describes himself is witty and really does make you warm up to him. Especially after reading some of his early posts from May 2003. He tells us of his pastoring years, the effect this had on his family, the loss of a friend due to ministry pressure and where he’s at now. These early posts are earnest and touching. There’s also a highlight where he speaks of Jesus’ ethnicity which is very amusing, I must say this post is one of the best I’ve read anywhere on the Internet so far.
The rest of his posts, range from personal experiences to quotes to one-liners, to recipes, to articles he’s read or just headlines, to pictures, etc., etc. There is no pattern I could find in the way he posted or the topics he deals with; however this doesn’t stop the blog from being interesting.
Shok is at his best when he speaks of his life, his views on religion or when he posts a good quote or two. Some of the other posts that deal with headlines (and only that) or a posted image but no real information as to what the image entails, are a bit obscure in comparison.
Overall, I like this blog. I like the fact that Shok is a man of principles and I appreciate his earnesty. He’s one of those bloggers you cannot help but like. If he could get the sidebar rearranged and post on those subjects where he’s at his best, then it would be one very good blog. For the time being, I will add Shok to my list of favorites and see what’s up with him every once in a while.